Servitude
by Mephiles666
Summary: By way of a rescue, Rumia 'recruits' one of Satori Komeiji's ballet students as her eternally bound servant. These are the trials, tribulations, and errors of both Lady and servant. A Danmakuverse story.
1. Chapter 1

**Servitude**

A Touhou Project round-robin fanfic created by Wolfsbane706 and hosted by Mephiles666. This chapter of the round-robin is written by Wolfsbane706.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Darkness. All around her, darkness. It was . . stifling, somewhat, and it felt like she was still unconscious, almost. "Hello?" she called meekly, only to be answered by her own echo.

She almost tried again, but someone answered. "Good grief, you're noisy," said a Voice.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Somewhere," the Voice said distractedly. "Not entirely sure where exactly."

"Well you're no help."

The Voice scoffed. "Hey, _you're_ the one who trespassed into _my_ darkness," it accused. "I'm just a wanderer. Not my fault if I end up somewhere I don't know."

That didn't make sense to her. "But if you take down the darkness from time to time, won't you know?" she asked. Simple enough, right?

"Not that simple~," the Voice sang. "My eyes don't like light. Too much, and -poof!- no more sight."

Despite her situation, she found it interesting. "How do you normally do stuff?"

"Hm-hm-hmm~," the Voice hummed. "That's the question of the day!" it said, much like someone announcing a game show would. "Y'know, I'm curious myself: you keep asking me why _I_ won't move, but why won't _you_ move?"

"Can't," was all she said. She refused to elaborate.

"Ohh~?" The Voice was showing interest? "Why '_can't_' you move?"

"Was playing on the ice with that stupid chronicler," she said. "Bitch is a trouble _magnet_." Now that she was going, she couldn't stop. "Ice broke. Idiot fairy came along. Akyuu got away, my legs got frozen in the ice. Lost 'em both 'cause the fairy was mad at Akyuu for giving away her favorite napping spot."

"Oh-ho-ho~!" the Voice mocked. "So Cirno 'unintentionally' claims a victim~!" it declared. "I'm amazed you're still around. Oh wait, no I'm not." Its tone became condescending, mocking, pitying. "Fairies don't eat humans. They're 'Nature's Children'. Feh. Sorry bunch." The Voice paused. "Say, if you have no legs, how did you come to wander into my darkness, hmm? Or were simply one of those bothersome 'victims of circumstance' I hear so much about?"

"I was here when I woke up," she replied, glad at the chance to finally speak. "When I fell asleep, it was almost nightfall and I couldn't get home."

"So you've only _recently_ lost use of your legs, is that it?" the Voice challenged. "I suppose that would explain why you're so stinking _wet_ and why you won't stop shaking. Still, I'm beginning to get _bored_. What kind of entertainment can a legless girl provide? None, I tell you!"

"I still have my legs!" she challenged. "I simply can no longer use them."

"Same difference," deadpanned the Voice. "Unfortunately, you cannot stay. I cannot eat you for risk of angering _both_ mikos, and I cannot let your noisy shivering ruin my beauty sleep. So, here is what shall happen: I will use some of my magic to heal your useless legs. In return, you must cone and dance for me every new moon, when I can dissipate my darkness and see normally. If you do not agree, I will eat you anyway, for I am Rumia, of the Evening Shade, and I am _HUNGRY_!"

She gulped. Rumia—now revealed to be the owner of the Voice—had roared her last word, to make sure it went through clearly. "Yes, Lady Rumia," she replied, adding the honorific in order to further placate the powerful Youkai of the Black Shadows. She hesitated, though. "How did you know I danced?"

"Hmm. 'Lady' Rumia has a nice ring to it. But still, to answer your question, Satomi Kurosaki, I know the voice of every man, woman, and child in the human village. You are no exception. You dance under that bothersome Satori's instruction. This, I have learned from listening." Satomi heard light footsteps land on the ground then approach her. "Now, I haven't done this in some centuries, so forgive me if it's slow. Do you, Satomi Kurosaki, eternally swear to dance for me, whenever your mistress so desires?"

Unhesitatingly, "Yes."

"Give me your wound, then." She did as told and felt life slowly returning to her legs. "The darkness I put into your body will ensure that you obey my commands and insure you against claims by other Youkai. It will also mark you as my eternal servant to those able to see the effects. Now, leave my darkness before I have a change of heart."

She almost said "Yes, mistress," but opted for the less-awkward "Yes, Lady Rumia."

Rumia listened as the girl ran away. The Youkai of Black Shadows predicted an attempted murder in the near future. She didn't know why she always picked the lost causes as servants. It was a pity thing, she supposed. As she recalled every servant she'd had, her thoughts turned to an old friend from before her sealing. Granted, his memories were kaput, but still. Had it not been for that wolf, she would not be here today.


	2. Chapter 2

**Servitude**

A Touhou Project round-robin fanfic created by Wolfsbane706 and hosted by Mephiles666. This chapter of the round-robin is written by Achariyth.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Satomi Kurosaki fled down the village road, trying to ignore the red seeping from the white paper bundle she clutched tight against her chest. Her new legs, or so she thought of them, pumped madly, chewing up great swaths of land with every stride like a panicked puppy. The gods demanded more grace from a dancer. She'd make it up to the gods later, if they'd only get her out of her current jam. Even in their wrath, the gods would show some small measure of mercy. Satori-sensei would just stuff Satomi into a leotard and force her to swing on a bar like an artistic gymnast.

She shuddered and cast a glance over her shoulder. That butcher's assistant, so eagerly charmed by coquettish blue eyes, a long blond ponytail, and a shy smile, thundered close behind. This wasn't how she wanted him to chase her, not with his face twisted into a hound's snarl. But she had swiped a day's worth of trimmings and scraps from his counter. Satomi hadn't wanted to, neither today nor the seven times before. Some gifts came with a price, and her lady was always hungry.

A week ago, pleasant games on an icy pond turned into the worst nightmare. Satomi had tried to walk away, but her legs refused to obey. She had shivered at the pond's edge, unable to move, abandoned by so-called friends, waiting for a youkai's teeth to shred open her throat.

The Lady Rumia appeared instead. The feral darkness youkai was not a proper lady; no one who looked like she fell from a forest of trees could be. But the little night terror had given back Satomi the use of her legs.

Satomi loved her legs. Not only did her long toned dancer's legs set apart a plain girl, or so she thought of herself, from the rest of the young women in the Village, they allowed her to jump, spin, and dance. To be alive, in a way that nothing else made her. For the return of her life, Satomi would give the Lady Rumia honor and service. Even if the Lady Rumia had commanded both. And the ability to run down the road, even if it was from a young man she'd rather trade smiles with, depended on keeping a certain red-ribboned bottomless pit full.

The dancer ducked into the type of alley her mother had always warned about, infested with the shadows and nooks where the more human monsters lurked. Whipping her free hand forward as she ran, Satomi flung clouds of danmaku shot through the alley. Even the dullest dastard would flee, fearing that the shrinemaiden and the witch fought nearby.

Normally, she had no use for spell cards or danmaku. If a girl wanted to display beauty and elegance, she needed to slip on a pair of pointe shoes instead of playing with pretty lights. But the dense shot did wonders for clearing a crowd. Another gift from the Lady Rumia.

Light flashed in front of Satomi, leaving silvery-purple trails where danmaku sparks winked out of existence. Satomi choked down a breath. Someone had bombed away her wall of danmaku.

At the end of the alley, where it once again met the dirt roads of the Village, a purple-robed woman stood. A six-point tin star glistened on her breast.

"Not the cops," Satomi hissed between breaths. She stumbled to a halt. No, not the cops, just Kotohime, but the distinction wouldn't matter when the rabbit princess hauled her in front of Judge Eiki.

Behind her, the butcher's son rounded the corner. He bellowed as the mountain of a man stampeded her way. At the other end of the alley, Kotohime's smile was all teeth as she spread her arms out wide until her fingertips brushed the walls.

Satomi's head swiveled around. She spied a tangle of pallets and crates. Scrambling up the makeshift wooden ladder, the dancer hopped onto the roof. Shingles clattered against the stone and dirt below while the blonde wobbled and danced until she found her footing.

Down below, both Kotohime and the butcher's son watched the tall lithe blonde leap over their heads in a classic _grand jete_, her legs stretched out into the splits as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

* * *

The shadows loved Satomi. She couldn't think of any other reason that the entire Village could miss a 170 centimeter tall schoolgirl huddled between buildings on the main drag. Kotohime had even peered into her hiding place three times as the would-be policewoman bustled through her beat. Yet another gift from the Lady Rumia.

Setting the soaked package onto a dry stone at her feet, Satomi sniffed and scrunched her nose. She had picked her hiding place well. The fishmonger's stand nearby masked all smells besides old fish. Most people rushed through the miasma, eager for the fresh air beyond.

Not everyone hurried, however. A jet-haired woman glided down the road in a plain pink dress considered out of fashion centuries earlier. Even the bunny-eared schoolgirl at her side had more fashion sense. But all eyes clung to the moon princess as she passed. Grace, poise, and bearing. This proper lady shone with all three, unlike the ramshackle wild child that Satomi served.

The dancer sighed and backed deeper into the shadows. Her hands fiddled with the large white bow in her hair while she watched. Not for the first time this week did she wish that she served the moon princess, the sleeping Yakumo youkai, or her fox seneschal. At least their servants basked in the reflected glory of their liege ladies.

Her watch, a kappa knockoff of Sanae Kochiya's favorite, chirped in her ear. Satomi's eyes widened as she clapped a hand over the watch and mashed the mute button. Thankfully, no one stuck their nose into her hiding place, no matter how futile the shadows would make it. She looked at the watch again and the color drained from her face.

It'd be the balance beam for certain, even if Satomi left for dance practice now. If she didn't hurry, though, Satori-sensei would add a turn on the bars as well. Satomi scooped up the bundled butcher's paper and hurried down the Village road.

* * *

Tom Lehrer's voice didn't blare from the speaker while Satomi bounced, spun, and leaped her way through intricate handsprings and footwork on a rail ten centimeters wide, but it was a masochism tango all the same. Tricky enough on the ground, the routine grew even more difficult when raised more than a meter into the air. At least Satori-sensei had spared her the indignity of a leotard, but the pixie-like instructor hummed the old college professor's ditty while Satomi sweated and wobbled her way through each move of the tango.

Satori-sensei had found that a little shame and a little sweat worked wonders that a lecture could never accomplish. Throw in a heavy touch of artistic gymnastics, and it was rare for any self-respecting dancer to be late more than once.

Satomi ran down the length of the beam and threw herself into a front flip. But she jumped too high and spun too far, belly-flopping into a thick blue mat. "How do they make it look so easy?" she gasped after finding her breath.

"Some say that once you're a young woman, you lose the ability." Satori-sensei knelt in front of her student and offered her a hand.

Satomi looked up into three unblinking eyes. "I'm not a little girl, so that's not the issue." She grabbed her teacher's hand and pulled herself to her feet.

"Indeed. Rumor has it that one of my girls has taken to running on top of rooftops." Satori-sensei's face was expressionless, but Satori thought for certain her teacher's third eye winked at her.

"You know." Satomi hung her head, casting an occasional glance at the eye over Satori-sensei's heart.

"Only one person has kept a secret from me." Satori-sensei flashed a wan smile.

"Where is she?" All of Satori-sensei's students longed to know how.

"I wish I knew."

Silence fell over the teacher and her student, broken only by the assistant instructor barking out the steps and the hiss of fairy and human feet sliding against the floor.

"So now what?" Satomi asked, wincing. If her service to Lady Rumia became public, would she still be able to walk?

"Nothing."

"But you know about..." Satomi slapped her thigh.

Satori-sensei pursed her lips. "You're stronger now. Not everyone can make a _grand jete_ across buildings. A week ago, you couldn't."

Satomi canted her head and tapped a long finger against her lips. "I never thought of it like that."

The dance instructor shook her head. "I'll keep your secret. I won't help you, though, not until you ask." She made a moue of disgust. "Call it an oath. Besides, you'd only resent my interference."

"Certainly, there's a way?"

Satomi-sensei wrinkled her nose. "Is that your lunch I'm smelling? Like raw beef?" Satomi nodded. "You might want to take that home before Rin finds out. I wouldn't put it past her to help herself to a snack."

Satomi's face fell. "What about practice?"

"Rin likes to play with her food. There won't be a practice after the food fight. I'd rather not have to clean up after her," Satori-sensei said with a laugh. Once again, her third eye winked. "Satomi, there's more to the master-servant relationship than the servant's obedience. Give it a thought on the walk home."

* * *

The night air was cool and calm, refreshing even. Then again, in Rumia's sphere of darkness, it was always night.

The youkai girl's stomach rumbled for the first time this afternoon. Normally, it growled all day long, but her new servant had brought her yummy red meat every day for the past week. She should have been here by now, though. Satomi always stopped by before her dance lessons.

Out beyond her personal night, metal scraped against gravel.

"Satomi, is that you?"

"Yes, Lady Rumia."

The youkai's stomach gurgled once more. "Did you bring food?"

"Yes, Lady Rumia."

Paper rustled and the coppery tang of blood and aging meat filled the air. Rumia's mouth watered. Her servant might not have much of a backbone, but she always brought the choicest cuts. Then again, Rumia wasn't picky at all when it came to meat, just as long as she could rend flesh of some sort with her teeth. "Give it here."

"Lady Rumia, I can't see where you are in that black ball."

"Fine," Rumia said in a huff. The youkai covered her eyes with one hand and reached out with the other. With a single unspoken command, her world shifted from cool darkness to the dull red glow of sunlight through skin.

An iron vice clamped on her wrist and another seized her vest. A sharp tug pulled her off her feet. Rumia flew through the air and splashed into hot water.

She lifted her head above the surface, sputtering as she blinked away both water and blinding light. Rumia clutched the sides of an old tin washtub. "What are you doing?" she shrieked at the tall blonde with a white bow.

"I said I'd serve you," Satomi said, rolling up her sleeves. The servant pick up a wire brush and a thick hard yellow bar. "But you need to be worthy of service as well."

Rumia howled at the first sting of lye soap against her skin.


	3. Chapter 3

**Servitude**

A Touhou Project round-robin fanfic created by Wolfsbane706 and hosted by Mephiles666. This chapter of the round-robin is written by Mephiles666.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

It's not like Rumia had ordered that she be treated gently, so the rough treatment was not disobedience.

"To be worthy of service," Satomi had said. If Rumia smelled so foul that her servant risked dying on the spot from the sheer stench of her odor, or if said service was hindered due to it, then the words the human girl spoke were true.

And thus the human servant was quite within her rights to toss her master into the scalding hot water and run her skin over with wire and a clump of causticity.

But even if the human girl's words and actions were justified, one could not help but feel betrayed when being handled by their sworn servant in such a way. Of course the youkai wanted to thrash at the human girl as she dunked Rumia's head back into the hot, soapy water.

The hot water flowing over her body, the burning sensation of the soap getting into her eyes; it reminded her of a feeling she once knew... long ago...

...

_To Rumia, it was a good day. A day when she could get human prey. And to her luck, there were several of them._

_This was before the days of spell cards, before carnivorous and omnivorous youkai were expected to not eat every human they came across. A human outside of the Human Village was not protected by the laws of Gensokyo and therefore in immediate danger. Either Rumia did not remember why they were there, or she did not bother to wait and find out since she would have to act quickly if she wanted it all for herself._

_It was by sheer chance that she failed to kill any but succeeded to injure the majority of them before the largest pleaded with her._

_"Please, Ms. Youkai! Please don't kill them!"_

_"They are worth more to me dead," she recalled being her response. But that seal always caused memory problems._

_"I'll do anything! Please spare them!"_

_Rumia raised her eyebrow at the man who was not pleading for his life, but the life of those among him._

_He was a healthy individual, and uninjured. The others, however, were weaker and dying. Given how deep they were into the forest and how far away they were from the Village, what chance did they have to survive? Logically, you'd let the predator put the weakened prey out of its misery and run yourself. But..._

_Of course, if they were his family as Rumia recalled, that would have some logic. Self-sacrifice in hopes your offspring and someone who could take care of them would survive._

_The memory was blurry, so Rumia did not remember why she did it, but..._

_"I accept, but in return... your life..."_

_She remembered drooling; the healthier one's food was before death, the better it tasted, even if fearful prey had its health benefits for youkai._

_But the burning hot water and soap did not remind her of that human, rather what her meeting him would result in._

_This encounter triggered the sequence of events that led to her being sealed._

...

"Alright, off with the clothes!" Satomi said as she pulled the twilight youkai's vest and blouse off. "I can't clean you if anything is in the way."

Even though there was some truth to that, Rumia swore that the human girl was somehow mocking her.

"Accessories, too!"

Rumia's attention came abruptly to the here and now. When Satomi's fingers brushed against the red ribbon amulet, pain shot through the small youkai's body. But it did not show in her voice, rather, the youkai's hand shot up and immediately grabbed Satomi by the wrist.

"I said-"

Her master cut her off. "Do not..." Rumia tightened her grip on the human girl's hand. She spoke, her words low and whispered, "Ever..."

"Ow! Ow! Lady Rumia!" The human girl winced in pain. If Rumia had been stronger, there would be a very real risk of bones cracking under the pressure.

"Do not ever touch the ribbon," Rumia said, lifting her eyes to meet Satomi's. "Do not ever touch the ribbon. Do you understand me?" Rumia's eyes glowed with bottled up rage. Looking into such eyes, Satomi felt fear build within her.

"Y-yes, Lady Rumia," Satomi said as she nodded.

"Do you understand me?" Rumia asked again. She wanted to make it certain that the human girl truly understood.

"Yes, Lady Rumia," Satomi answered a second time, trying to keep calm. "I will not touch the ribbon. Please let go, you're hurting me."

There was a brief pause before the pain in Satomi's hand vanished. Rumia's grip loosed until her hand slipped off the human's wrist. The youkai's head tilted down to its natural position, her eyes no longer looking into Satomi's.

"If you are so determined to wash me, continue it without touching the ribbon," Rumia told her.

Satomi blinked, and reached down to the soap she had placed down before taking off Rumia's clothing. She resumed her duty in washing Rumia's body but... aside from the sounds of water splashing, the birds and insect chirping in the distance, and the sound of soap and brush running across the surface of a youkai's skin, there would be absolute silence between the two.

And it would be at least a few minutes before either of them spoke.

"So," Satomi said to break the silence, "I saw a couple not long ago, a silver haired man with glasses making out with a green haired woman in public. Talk about no sense of shame, am I right?"

Rumia's interest in the topic was piqued. While youkai were usually solitary creatures; the mountain races, fairies, and beast youkai who had emotional attachment to their animal counterparts aside; this did not stop small groups of friends and family members from hanging out together and playing or gossiping from time to time. And even when a youkai didn't even try forming a temporary small group, it did not mean that a youkai didn't care for its offspring.

Her own offspring, the product of an undesired union, fit the description Satomi gave for the man in that couple. She made it a point to speak with him at least once a year.

Assuming that the man Satomi had seen was in fact her spawn, Rumia had to assume that his lover was the green haired woman in question. Such was stated by a familiar mountain youkai she met when she came to her offspring's home but couldn't find the owner.

Unfortunately, Rumia couldn't think of all of the possible women that it could have been. There was her insect friend named Wriggle, her other friend's friend who was a fairy, the walking plant nightmare woman, and that was already more than who Rumia could name off the top of her head. And the full moon wasn't long ago, so it could have been that were-youkai school teacher her child told her about.

"Do you remember anything about her?" Rumia asked.

"Well, I was busy, so no," the human girl admitted as she scrubbed Rumia's arm.

"That's fine, though, right?" Rumia asked herself. However, she still hasn't seen her offspring even when she last visited his house outside the Forest of Magic and the Human Village. Perhaps she should pay another visit?


	4. Chapter 4

**Servitude**

A Touhou Project round-robin fanfic created by Wolfsbane706 and hosted by Mephiles666. This chapter of the round-robin is written by Achariyth.

**Chapter 4**

Abbess Hijiri always claimed that the simple songs of home and hearth were holy, but as Satomi Kurosaki listened to the salacious songs of the bunny girls working in town, she knew that the nun would quickly change her mind. Certainly, the red-faced young men chased away by crescendoing chants and the clucking old women sneering at the lop-eared girls disagreed with the abbess's homespun belief.

Satomi gave thanks for her mistress's shadow gift; it hid the fire creeping into her cheeks. Loitering nearby the village's medical clinic was an education far earthier than her mother wished. Even the long-eared nurse practitioner joined in, adding to the scandal with each roll of her hips.

This was supposed to be the miracle clinic that cured everything, even death? If they found out where she hid, Satomi's mother and Satori-sensei would fight like Kilkenny cats over who got to ground Satomi for life. Yet every day after scrounging scraps into a carnivore's feast, the lithe blonde dancer hid in the alley across from the clinic.

She slumped against a wall, taking care not to crumple the large white hair bow that rivaled the shrinemaiden's in size. A matching bag laden with the day's haul dangled from her arm, swinging in time to the rabbits' sung boasts. The dancer hummed under her breath. By now, she knew every one of the bunny songs by heart.

A hand clamped down on Satomi's shoulder, each finger falling separately, tapping an exquisite talon-like nail against her skin. The dancer tried to writhe her way out of the iron grip, but the stranger's hand remained firm.

"Stay still, my dear, before you find out new meaning for a bad hair day." The nails dug pinpricks into Satomi's flesh. "If just one drop of your blood wells from under my nails, your reservation to the next Werewolf's Ball is guaranteed."

Satomi froze, turning only her eyes towards her captor. The woman resembled a wolf tengu, but none of those creatures had her flowing black hair or that white moon evening gown. The wolf woman tapped a slender crimson nail against her lips.

"You're good and quiet when it comes to the hiding, sugar, and I'd love to know what you're doing with those shadows. But you forgot something." The wolf woman tapped the side of her nose and let the dancer go. "Really, darling, you ought to lay off the eau de skunk."

"It's supposed to be wisteria blossoms." Satomi massaged her shoulder and felt for holes in her schoolgirl's blouse.

"Sweetie, only daddy's girls wear wisteria."

"Lady Mokou does."

"My point exactly. You ought to consider roses. Now, level with you new dear Aunt Kagerou. Sweet little things like you don't hide by a clinic unless you have a secret." The loup-garou closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "You aren't in the family way, so what's your reason?"

"What's it to you?"

"My skin, and I'm quite attached to it. See, those bunny hussies and I have an understanding. I deal with all sorts of vile things that linger in the shadows and they don't turn me into a rather fetching fur coat. So please tell me that you aren't with those History fools or the Lady most fair. It'd break your auntie's heart to have to lay a hand on you."

A chill started at the base of Satomi's neck and ran between her shoulders, only to fizzle out just below her waist. Yet the dancer squared her shoulders and met Kagerou's gaze. "I don't know who you're talking about. There's too many noblewomen in Gensokyo to counts. Do you mean Lady Yukari? Or Lady Miko?" Her features darkened and she hissed the next name. "Lady Akyuu?"

"No one who serves the Lady most fair would speak so flippantly." The elegant lupine belle's nails flashed crimson in the air. A smile broke out on Kagerou's face, showing more teeth than any decent predator should. "That settles it. You simply must join me for tea. Proper sweet tea, I mean, not that dirt-colored water that's in fashion here."

Eyeing the drag, Satomi giggled and eased away from Kagerou. She hated whenever she got nervous; she always sounded like a tipsy fairy. "There's no need-" The dancer winced as the rough wall tugged against her skirt.

"My dear, you look like you need to talk. Whatever's on your mind is weighing you down."

Satomi began to nod and then froze. She could barely talk to Satori-sensei; much less some self-professed aunt from the back alleys of town with a big smile and bigger teeth. Mother always warned her about people, make that beings, like the wolf woman. Then again, Satomi was well on her way to becoming one of those women her mother warned her about.

Kagerou gave a wan smile. "I know what this is about. 'My, Auntie Kagerou, what big teeth you have.' I can't help the way I'm made." The belle's voice dropped to a low growl. "And you wouldn't believe the short leash those bunny girls have me on."

Satomi froze and stared at the werewolf while her mouth moved silently. "You're afraid of grass eaters?"

"Honey, close that mouth before you swallow a fly."

Satomi clasped a hand over her mouth and tried to hide the blush burning her cheeks. She wished she had the belle's statuesque poise.

Kagerou shook her head. "Don't think that herbivore means safe or that cute and cuddly can't hide danger."

"I live in Gensokyo," Satomi snapped. "But they're rabbits, not the usual beast youkai."

"Herbivores have two survival strategies. Those hussies out here making eyes and shaking tail at any man they might be able to pull behind a bush for a few minutes follow one. Cattle, horses, and moose follow another; obliterate anything that might ever look like a threat." The older woman eyes darted around. She whispered, "What you don't see in that parade of cottontail is the one rabbit with the heart of a bull."

Satomi stared at Kagerou, but the belle's poise never wavered. "You're serious."

"Deathly so, I'm afraid. But conversations like these are best made over tea." The loup-garou smiled and point one single red nail out toward the village square, where a trio of fairy maids ran the Shanghai Teahouse. "Besides, I shared my secret, sugar. Don't you think it's time for you to do the same?"

Satomi jumped as her watch rang. She slapped a hand on her wrist and lifted it just long enough to look at the watch's face. Color ran out of her face. Satori-sensei would have the bars ready for her for certain. "I've got to go."

"The offer stands. Tea and an ear to listen. You know where to find me." Kagerou called out as the blonde dancer ran to practice.

* * *

_After her!_

As Kagerou watched the young woman run away, her blood bayed in her ears. The poor dear didn't know it, but underneath the cheap perfume, she reeked of wounded prey. It took every gram of Kagerou's humanity not to give into the wolf.

If the blonde found out, she'd likely drown out the food smell with enough of that toilet water to kill a ghost. Not only would that continue the assault on Kagerou's delicate senses, it would give the various opposition groups ideas. Everyone knew how to obscure sight; few thought to cover up smell.

The belle sighed and shook her head as she retreated deeper into the alley. She hoped that one of the other factions didn't sweep up that girl; innocence should be preserved as long as possible. Someone needed to take her aside and show her the ropes of impolite society. Actually, given the heavy face paint on the blonde's cheeks, someone needed to give her pointers on polite society as well.

A high-pitched whistle at the edge of canine hearing pierced the air. Kagerou ground her teeth, lifted her skirt, and trotted towards the clinic. One of these days, she'd renegotiate her arrangement with Tewi on her terms. In the mean time, she'd settle for tea and company. At least that didn't seem so far off.

Maybe.

* * *

Satomi's legs trembled as she walked along the path towards the Misty Lake. Satori-sensei hadn't bothered with the bars when her student crashed through the studio doors fifteen minutes late. Instead, she pulled out the vaulting horse, with the promise that the next time Satomi showed up late, she'd have to do a ten minute floor routine as she sang "I'm a Little Teapot" at the top of her lungs. After twenty spinning leaps over the horse, Satomi knew two things for certain. First, she never wanted to be late again, and, second, she'd have no problems leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

The dancer had wanted to take a nice two hour soak in a hot bath, but she had to take care of certain responsibilities first. Otherwise, even this short walk would be outside of her abilities.

Normally, the air around the Misty Lake rang with the shrieks of fairies at play. Instead, the shrieks greeting Satomi's ears were shrill and urgent. She hoped that someone had a certain ice fairy held down under a hairdryer on high heat, but it was likely just another victim of a prank that spiraled out of control. Just like her. The dancer took off towards the cries.

"Look out!" A pale girl around Satomi's age flew out of the tree line, scooped up the taller dancer, and plunged into the brush.

Satomi found herself lying down behind a thick line of shrubs. The new girl crouched next to her, clad in the type of severe green livery that tried to hide anything of interest to the opposite sex and failed. A strange mist surrounded them both. The blonde rolled to her feet. "What's going-"

The pale girl hushed her and pulled her back down. "I'm being chased by a ghost."

Satomi's breath caught in her throat. She wondered if she had the same bloodless look as the young woman next to her. Creeping ever so slowly around to the edge of the bushes, she peered between the branches.

A big black ball of darkness swallowed her alive. Outside, the girl screamed loud enough to raise the dead, trailing off as she ran away. Only a high-pitched cackled remained.

"Good afternoon, Milady." The shroud fell from Satomi's eyes.

Rumia staggered around, clutching her stomach as she laughed. "I wish I could see her face." Tears ran down the twilight youkai's cheeks.

Satomi frowned and folded her arms beneath her breasts. "You could have hurt her."

The child-like youkai straightened up and planted her hands against her hips, just like a certain accursed ice fairy. "Who, Youmu? What's the worst that can happen to her? She's already dead."

Satomi shivered, chills racing through her flesh except where Cirno's ice had snared her. Gensokyo was an odd place, filled with monsters that would eat you and others who would eat with you. Keine-sensei spent most of her classes teaching human children how to tell which was which. But even Keine-sensei had little good to say about the walking dead. "She's not going to come back, is she?"

"She's probably half-way to Yuyuko by now." Rumia turned to her servant and smiled. "Good thing you came along. I bet we scared the ghost completely out of her."

"Milady." Satomi brushed her legs clean and frowned. She'd have to start wearing tights or maybe even thigh-high socks if she wanted to keep her legs unscarred from all the running around she'd been doing. She wanted to avoid the thigh-highs; it was hard enough to get boys to look her in the eye. She didn't want their gaze dropping any lower.

"Did you bring it?" Satomi nodded and handed her mistress the day's offering. The smaller youkai unwrapped the wax paper package and sniffed it. "How did you get the aged beef?"

"I don't want to talk about that." Another day spent running from a young man she'd rather talk to.

"Fine by me," Rumia said with her mouth full. "You did real good though. Gourmet even. You spoil me."

Satomi turned her head while her mistress devoured the contents of the package. Maybe she should teach the youkai girl some table manners. The sucking as the child licked her fingers clean grated on the older girl's nerves. "May I go, Milady?"

"Not yet." Rumia brushed her fingers against her skirt. "Stand up straight and stand still. Stretch out your arms."

Satomi took a step back. "What?"

"No protesting. You swore an oath."

Under duress, which, even the dullest of legal minds in Gensokyo agreed, annulled the oath. Not that there were many legal minds outside of Lady Miko and Judge Eiki. But the oath had restored Satomi, and she wouldn't toss it away lightly. Even if the feral child looked at her like freshly cut steak. "May I ask what this is about, Milady?"

Rumia circled Satomi with an intent gaze at odds with the girl sucking her thumb. "You're a ballerina, right?" Satomi nodded and tried to ignore the bead of sweat rolling down her back. "What's so special about you?"

"What?"

"Hold your arms back out and do that twirly thing you do." Rumia wobbled as she pirouetted an example.

Satomi grinned and counted in her head. When she got to six, she whipped her leg out and stood on her toe. Rumia leaped back and watched the five _fouette_ turns in silence, taking care to avoid Satomi's foot as it whipped around in each turn. The dancer spun to a stop and threw her arms up and out in a salute.

"Show off," Rumia muttered as she sat on a fallen log. "I still don't see anything that isn't common to all women, although the gods were more than generous in your case. You bind your chest. Tell me, is there a man I have to eat because he won't leave you alone?"

"No, Lady Rumia!" Satomi gasped. Her cheeks glowed crimson and she huddled over, covering her body with her arms. "It's just easier to dance that way." Satori-sensei insisted on it for all her dancers, after she had to chase away the crowds of men that huddled around Utsuho-senpai when she first danced.

"Pity. I think even Reimu would turn a blind eye in that case." Rumia pouted. "Promise you'll tell me if you need someone eaten."

An image of Lady Akyuu appeared in Satomi's mind's eye. She crossed her fingers. "I don't think there will be a need." She eased out of her crouch and sighed. "Unless you count ice fairies."

"They take forever to thaw."

"May I go now, Milady?"

"Certainly." Rumia shooed the taller girl away with her hands. "Oh, and Satomi, you don't have to run around tomorrow for snacks. Just meet me at the edge of town."

Satomi paused in mid-step. "Milady?"

"I want to check out your dance studio. For some reason, my rotten spawn is taken with your type, and I want to find out why."

"Satori-sensei's going to _kill_ me," Satomi whimpered under her breath as she hurried away.


End file.
